Denny Douds and James Franklin ate ice cream and talked football on Douds' deck during the summer of 1996. That's when Douds discovered Franklin's acumen for coaching.

"He was one of those guys who was always asking why," said Douds, head coach at East Stroudsburg University. "He always wanted to learn how to become a head coach. And he took a very aggressive track in coaching."

Franklin, the former ESU quarterback and current Vanderbilt head coach, is one person Penn State's search committee should at least contact. Though 39 and with just one year of head-coaching experience, Franklin is highly regarded as a recruiter and offensive coach and is an outsider who just might fit the Penn State "culture" addressed by former players such as Matt Millen.

Franklin (photo courtesy Vanderbilt) has a long resume, with stops at eight colleges and four NFL teams since 1995. After college (he was a two-time all-PSAC quarterback at ESU), Franklin coached at Kutztown, his alma mater and James Madison before joining Washington State's staff as a graduate assistant in 1998.

Two years later, after a stop at Idaho State, Franklin was hired by Ron Vanderlinden at Maryland. When Vanderlinden was let go after the 2000 season, Franklin was retained by new coach Ralph Friedgen. He spent four seasons in Maryland before leaving to coach wide receivers with the Green Bay Packers in 2005.

Franklin then became the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator at Kansas State before returning to Maryland as offensive coordinator and assistant head coach in 2008. Though he was Maryland's head-coach-in-waiting, Franklin took the Vanderbilt position last year.

After back-to-back 2-10 seasons, the Commodores went 6-6 in Franklin's first year and qualified for a bowl for only the second time since 1983. Franklin's name is being associated with several jobs, which Douds called inevitable.

"He’s a person who associates well with all kinds of people," Douds said. "He's a highly enthusiastic, energetic guy who would pump enthusiasm into any program he would go into. Look what happened at Vanderblit."

Here are some positives in Franklin's favor:

-- He has an offensive resume that could breathe new life into Penn State's philosophy. He also was hired by Vanderlinden, Penn State's linebackers coach, at Maryland. Franklin might be able to convince one of Penn State's best assistants to stay.

-- Franklin has been recognized four times by the recruiting site Rivals.com as one the nation's top 25 recruiters. He recruited Maryland and Washington, D.C., where Penn State has drawn a sizable number of impact players recently. He maintains a vacation home in the Poconos and has ties to high school coaches in the region.

-- Vanderbilt and Penn State have similar academic missions regarding athletes. Vanderbilt had the SEC's highest Graduation Success Rate (86 percent) for football in the NCAA's most recent report. Penn State's GSR was 87 percent.

Of course, Penn State and Vanderbilt have followed different road maps for football, and Franklin has only one year of head-coaching experience. Still, he's a coach to watch.

"He's a good role model in all areas," Douds said. "Whatever he does, he'll be successful."